Twitter Dorsey Becomes Billionaire as Square Value Soars

Jack Dorsey’s mobile payment company, Square Inc., is in the process of closing a $200 million investment by Rizvi Traverse Management LLC, according to a report Wednesday by PrivCo. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc. co-founder Jack Dorsey,
35, has joined the ranks of the world’s billionaires.

Dorsey’s mobile payment company, Square Inc., is in the
process of closing a $200 million investment by Rizvi Traverse
Management LLC, valuing the company at $3.2 billion, according
to a report Wednesday by PrivCo, a New York-based research firm
that specializes in private companies’ financial data.

The report, citing unnamed sources, said Dorsey will own 26
percent of Square after this round of financing closes. The
stake would be worth $845 million. Coupled with his ownership in
Twitter, the social media company, Dorsey is a billionaire, the
report said.

“While a valuation of $3.2 billion is rich, and virtually
unheard of for a three-year old company, Square has grown
dramatically since its prior round of funding, now processing
over $500 million of merchant transactions a month,” PrivCo
said in its report.

Closely held Rizvi, a Birmingham, Michigan-based private
equity fund, will take a 6.25 percent equity stake in Square,
which was co-founded by Dorsey in 2009. Square said in June two
million people used its smart phone and mobile device payments
processing software, double what the company said it had at the
start of 2012.

Rizvi spokesman Beau Allen said in a phone call the company
had no comment on the report. Rizvi Traverse owns a stake in
Twitter, which Dorsey co-founded in 2006, and counts Facebook
Inc., Playboy Enterprises Inc. and Summit Entertainment Group
among its investments, according to its website.

Aaron Zamost, a spokesman for Square, said the company had
no comment in an e-mail.